St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-04-12
WHOLESALE ARRESTS
DE- Railroad employees who HIVE
Been Engaged in RObbing Freight



PITTsBURG, April 1.-THE most i'm
portant arrests ever made in this part of
he country was begun at an early hour
his morning, and the officers of the Pan
handle railroad have in custody the most
iaring gang of railroad robbers ever known.
How many members belong to the gang is
l0t known, but they run up into the hun
ireds. Their stealing extended over a
period OF two or three years. and the
amount stolen reaches nearly half million
dollars. simultaneously arrests were made
al along the line of the Panhandle road be-
Tween here and Columbus. Warrants have
been in the hands of officers for some time.
and the persons arrested will comprise
nearly the entire freight men of the line.
The ringeaders are outside of the railroad
business and are known. The first arrests
we're made about o'clock this morning. the
police surprising eighteen at their boarding
houses. Further arrests were made be-
tween ? o'clock and daylight. when forty
SIX men. all railroad employees. conductors,
Orakemen, tiremen and engineers were be-
aind the bars. In speaking of the arrest
prominent officer of the Panhandle said:
For three years past the Panhandle road
aas been Systematically robbed. Cars on sid
ings and cars in moving trains were broken
open and goods stolen, including every de-
;cription of merchandise. 1t is estimated
that at least S3U0,000 worth of goods were
:aken for which the company had to pay. In
August last we
GOT A CLUE,
and the company determined to push it to the
end. Detectives were employed who followed
Ip every scent and finally we had informa-
lion on which to proceed. Wnen everything
was ready we decided 10 make movement all
along the line from Columbus to Pittsburg,
and 2 o'clock this morning was fixed to strike
the blow. About eighty warrants were issued
for men in PittSburg. can't tell how many
for other places, but 1t is at every point along
.he line and it will run up into the hundreds.
1t is the biggest thing of the kind that ever
happened in Pittsburg Or in railroad matters
In the world. for nothing like it ever hap
pened before. l cannot tell who the men are
ander arrest or who the ringleaders are This
much will say,we suspect outsiders of beng
implicated in the robbery, but know nothing
positively.
The arrests created the greatest excite
nent among the railroad employees of this
:ity. The scene about the Jail doors this
morning, where relatives of the prisoners
aad gathered to learn the cause of the ar
ests, We're of the saddest description.
Wives. children, parents. brothers and
sisters with tear stained faces stood around
The entrance to the prison, eager to hear the
attest developments and pleading with the
officers for admission to the Jail to see the
prisoners. At 1 o'clock ten more arrests
were reported. They were captured at the
pay car while receiving their wages. This
makes total of tifty-siX now in Jail here.
CONFEDERATION
prevails among the proprietors of the
''fences" and dens where the goods were
secreted and sold. In one instance the
proprietor of notorious den was detected
in the act of burning stolen property A
telegram received from Dennison. o., states
that J. r. Dunlap, the leader of the gang
vas arrested there this morning. Tele-
grams from CadiZ. Steubenville and points
west OF Columbus report the arrest of a
arge number of railroad employees impli-
.ated in the robberies. The preliminary
nearing will be held on April Is.
The robberies were committed between
Pittsburg and Dennison, o., and out of
eighty freight crews, seventy-five were in
VOWED in the theft. The prisoners stole all
sorts of goods, discriminating only against
blacksmith's anvis and cotfins. The thieves
who were not arrested at their homes were
taken from their trains To do this it was
necessary to display the red light at the
Second avenue crossing and side track the
trains as they came in. This was so quickly
executed that when the thieving crew mus
tered OH the little platform to ask what the
red light meant. they could see gllstening
on the wrists of each other the fearful i'm
plements of justice by which the officers
gathered them together. Conductors and
brakemen looked aghast at each other as the
guilty knowledge OF their crimes came be-
fore them.
TRAIN AFTER TRAIN
VAS side tracked until the alleged thieves
we're pulled aud the caboose cars containing
many evidences of their long continued
sepredationS were cut loose and searched.